Page 3710 - Week 10 - Tuesday, 18 September 2018
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However, I echo my comments in this place last time the issue arose: has the plastic bag ban in the ACT been effective? Since the ban, by weight, plastic bags sent to landfill have reduced from 182 to 114 tonnes, but this is not the reduction which was expected. After all, bags for life are meant to be bags for life. Has the bag ban instead become a bag thickening?
Previous reviews of the plastic bag ban have taken the form of surveys, and we are yet to see the long-awaited results of the review that is being undertaken by the Commissioner for Sustainability and the Environment. Given how many times I have asked about the review in past public hearings during annual reports and estimates, and assurances that it is always around the corner, surely this review must not be too far away.
I also mentioned in the last sitting week that our so-called single-use plastic bags are anything but that. I do not know anyone who does not reuse these plastic bags for other purchases, including as bin liners, or to wrap your lunch or leftovers. I know there are others who use the more durable 15c bags that we are now forced to buy in the same way, so the review will be very helpful in confirming whether we have had much success in reducing plastic waste going into our landfill since the ban came into effect in 2011 and, if so, by how much. Only then can we know exactly what is happening to single-use plastics here in the ACT and whether, indeed, they are truly single use.
Whilst we wait with bated breath to hear what is happening with our so-called single-use plastic bag ban, our latest victim is the humble plastic straw. Yes, plastic straws do add to our plastic waste, and we have seen some large corporations take responsibility and look at ways in which they can reduce the huge number of plastic straws that they produce.
No-one will argue that reducing the use of single-use plastic straws will not be a good thing for everyone. However, as shadow minister for disability, I am concerned that a straight-out ban will unfairly impact Canberrans with a disability. There are people in our community who rely on sturdy plastic straws to undertake the act of taking a drink, an activity that most Canberrans take for granted. Before the government charges off to issue a blanket ban on plastic straws there needs to be a thorough consultation into any unintended consequences of the abolition of plastic straws. Some Canberrans need a straw, and I am not talking merely about trying not to ruin your lipstick.
Many people who have difficulty swallowing or who have limited hand movements need to use straws and other utensils to eat and drink. They are also helpful tools to exercise the lungs. And single-use straws are cheap, flexible and available. Other options like glass or metal straws are not as flexible and are difficult to clean, leading to concerns about hygiene. Cardboard straws disintegrate in hot liquids or turn into mush after prolonged use.
I was going to thank Ms Le Couteur for her very careful choice of words that the outright ban on straws and other single-use plastics would be discriminatory, yet that reduced use of single-use plastics is something that we can all work towards.
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